Life At The Espresso Pump
by Kirstee
Summary: AU. Loosely based on the TV show Friends. Six friends deal with life and what it deals them.
1. TOW Everything Starts Part 1

Title- Life At The Espresso Pump  
  
Author- Kirstee  
  
Disclaimer- Not mine Joss Whedon and FOX own all Buffy names and other such. The theme of this story is loosely based on Bright/ Kauffman/Crane's Friends.  
  
Description- AU. Loosely based on the TV show Friends. Six friends deal with life and what it deals them.  
  
Dedicated- To all my friends over at the Spuffy thread on Fanforum. You guys rock my socks!  
  
A/N- Kirstee has written another story! My God does this girl ever finish anything?! I am actually saying this to myself, of course I sound insane while doing so but that's ok. In my defense I had started this story in summer and just found it on my comp., so I finished the chapter and was going to post it on Spuffy Archives. But they are sadly not allowing new stories. So here you go I hope you enjoy my new fun story (I promise hardly any angst at all!)-  
  
The One Where Everything Starts- Part1  
  
"There's nothing to tell" Willow said simply as she poured some cream into her coffee.  
  
"C'mon your going out with a guy.There's gotta be something wrong with him" Xander said from next to her.  
  
Willow swatted the back of his head playfully.  
  
Oz leaned forward from his chair "So nothing is wrong with him?"  
  
Willow rolled her eyes.  
  
"I bet he has intimacy issues" Xander said.  
  
"Look who's talking" Willow said.  
  
"Hey! I resent that" he said.  
  
"My money is on performance problems, you know sexual" Anya said. "No orgasms for Willow"  
  
"Oh come on guys, he is perfectly nice" Willow said.  
  
"Hmmm.Not buying it" Anya said as if thinking it over.  
  
"So do we get to meet this presumably 'Nice' guy?" Xander asked  
  
"No" Willow said.  
  
"Why not?" Oz asked.  
  
"Well mostly because I would rather not scare him away before the date even starts"  
  
"We aren't scary" Anya said.  
  
"Pffft" Willow said. She took a sip of her coffee.  
  
Xander groaned. "Well I guess I better get to my job"  
  
He got up from the red couch and looked down at his friends.  
  
Willow, they had been friends since they were little. Then when she was 13 her and her older brother had moved away.  
  
After college Willow had moved to New York where she and Xander had met up again and the friendship again blossomed.  
  
Anya, who had moved in with Willow when she arrived in New York. Anya was quickly accepted into the group, even though she was always blunt and straight to the point. But she was a great friend. Willow and Anya didn't live together anymore because Anya's shop made lots of money, as she so often stated. Also Anya said she needed her space so she moved 2 floors up from where Willow lived.  
  
Oz, whose band use to play at the bar the Espresso Pump once was. Anya and Oz had dated a little but they were too different to stay together. Oz was laid back and Anya was, well.High maintenance, but she thought she was low maintenance. That was the worst kind of woman.  
  
But Oz had also become friends with the group, so when they broke up Oz still stayed. He was still in a band, they played at some clubs that were around. Their little group went to almost all of his performances.  
  
The bell above the entrance to the door jingled.  
  
In came Spike, he was also part of their little group. In fact he was Willow's older brother.  
  
He was a womanizer in every sense of the word. He and Xander lived together in an apartment across from Willow's. And almost every night there was a new girl there.  
  
He had moved to New York a few months after Willow. Then Willow had convinced Xander to let Spike move in with him.  
  
"So who was the conquest of last night?" Xander asked, sitting back down and temporarily forgetting about his job.  
  
Spike flopped into a chair. He thought for a moment.  
  
"Uhh.Theresa" he smiled, proud that he had remembered her name.  
  
Willow and Anya both rolled their eyes in unison.  
  
"Seriously Spike, Do any of these women mean anything to you?" Willow asked.  
  
"Yes that's why I let them go before they can hurt me" he said, defending himself.  
  
"Uh huh" Anya said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  
  
"So what were you talking about?" Spike asked.  
  
"Willow's got a dateee" Xander said in a sing song voice.  
  
"Bets?" Spike asked.  
  
"10 on Intimacy issues" Xander said.  
  
"I've got ten on performance problems" Anya said  
  
"10 on cheater" Spike said.  
  
"Well I'm glad my personal life is a way for you guys to win money" Willow said with a grand sigh.  
  
"Aw come on were kidding" Xander said.  
  
"Yea, yea, yea" Willow said as she went to the counter to get more coffee.  
  
They quickly exchanged their money while Willow's back was turned.  
  
"You in Oz?" Will asked.  
  
"Not this time" Oz said with a laugh.  
  
"Okay so Spike" Willow came back with a hot cup of coffee and a mini scone "You've slept with dozens of women."  
  
"God I hope you're going somewhere with this.' Xander said.  
  
Willow rolled her eyes "Anyways so you've been with all these women.Do you ever think you'll find The One?"  
  
With that the Espresso Pump's door slammed open. All 5 of them spun their heads to look at who had made the commotion  
  
A girl who looked about 20 stormed in. Her face was red with anger. She was wearing jogging shorts and a tight exercisers shirt.  
  
"Ugh!" the girl yelled out. She stomped over to the counter.  
  
Willow looked over at Spike, who's eyes were wide.  
  
Willow put down her cup and went over to the girl who was now fuming at a seat by the counter.  
  
"Um Buffy....Buffy Summers?" Willow asked tentatively.  
  
The girl turned to look at the red head.  
  
Buffy peered at the redhead for a minute.  
  
"Willow?"  
  
Willow nodded.  
  
"Oh My God!" Buffy squealed. She pulled Willow to her and enveloped her in a big hug.  
  
Xander, Oz, and Anya all looked at each other questioningly. Spike just looked at the two who were still their hug.  
  
They finally pulled apart.  
  
"Wow...it's been ages" Buffy breathed out.  
  
"Yea" Willow said. And in that moment she wondered how she could have made it in New York without her use-to-be best friend Buffy.  
  
"Ahem" Xander said from behind the two girls.  
  
"Oh!" Willow said. She led Buffy over to the group.  
  
"Buffy this is Oz, Xander, Anya and you remember my brother Spike, Don't you?"  
  
"Yea" she gave him a soft smile and his heart skipped a beat.  
  
"Everyone this Buffy" Willow said  
  
A 'Hey' came from both Oz and Xander while Anya jumped and embraced Buffy in a hug.  
  
Buffy looked at Willow who smiled, then Buffy returned the hug.  
  
"I am Anya Emmanuella Jenkins" she said with a wide smile "It's nice to meet you"  
  
"It's nice to meet you too" Buffy said, she couldn't help the little smile that crept up on her face.  
  
Willow sat down on the couch and motioned for Buffy to take a seat beside her.  
  
Buffy sat down and looked down at her lap.  
  
"So um. Is there a reason you're so mad?" Willow asked, a little afraid.  
  
Buffy sighed. She looked at the faces that were looking at her intently. And for some reason she knew she could trust these people.  
  
"Ok Well, I have been living with this guy Angel." she took in a deep breath after she said his name forcing herself not to cry.  
  
"And I was out for the weekend with some friends for a bachelorette party and I told him I would be back early Monday morning"  
  
Spike could see where this was going.  
  
"But it turns out the flight we were taking was actually on Sunday afternoon, So I go home early and there is Angel in bed with one of my best friends, Faith!"  
  
She took in a deep breath to calm herself  
  
"And that's not it.Turns out almost all of my other friends knew about him and his many affairs.And some had even been them"  
  
"Oh Honey!" Willow said and pulled hers into another hug.  
  
One lone tear fell onto Willow's shirt.  
  
Buffy then again tried to compose herself.  
  
------------------------  
  
Later at Willow's apartment-  
  
-----------------------  
  
Anya sat on Willow's couch snacking on popcorn out of the bag. An Infomercial for better milk drinking played across the screen.  
  
"Hey Anya" Willow called out from her bedroom "Aren't you suppose to be at work?"  
  
"Well since I'm the boss and everything I can order people to do things, so they're taking care of the shop" Anya said never tearing her eyes from the screen.  
  
"Hey.Share the wealth" Spike said from the chair next to Anya.  
  
She tossed the bag over to him.  
  
"You better not be getting popcorn all over my living room" Willow called out again from the bedroom.  
  
Anya ignored her. "And besides I think I'm needed here"  
  
Anya popped another kernel in her mouth and looked over into the kitchen.  
  
Buffy was sitting at the table, her ringing cell phone in her hand. The name of who was calling blinked up at her. Angel.  
  
It had been ringing for the last half an hour. And Buffy just stared at it.  
  
Spike got up and went to the kitchen, he opened the fridge door and got out a soda.  
  
He looked down at Buffy who still sat with the phone in hand.  
  
It rang again.  
  
"Umm are you ever gonna answer that?" Spike asked tentatively.  
  
She looked up at him and gave him a cold stare.  
  
She then looked back down at the phone and it rang again.  
  
"Arrgh!" she yelled and threw the phone on the kitchen floor, it broke into many pieces. Will looked down at in shock and Anya turned around from on the couch. Willow came out of the bedroom.  
  
Willow rushed to Buffy's side and asked her if she was ok.  
  
Spike sidled over and back into the living room.  
  
Anya whispered over to him "What did you do?!"  
  
Spike shrugged. Anya sighed and went over to the other girls.  
  
"I just don't know why he would do this to me" Buffy said, the sound was muffled because her head was buried in Willow's shoulder  
  
Anya threw her arms around the two girls and they enveloped her.  
  
Spike looked at the three girls. Well this whole tenderness loving crap just miffed him.  
  
He just chalked it up to the mystery that is woman.  
  
Oz walked into the apartment. He looked at the girls who were rocking back and forth in a hug. Then looked down to where the discards of a cell phone were.  
  
"Whoa" he said.  
  
The girls finally pulled away from each other.  
  
"Hey um Willow, Do you think I could stay here with you for awhile?" Buffy asked.  
  
'She's cute when she's upset' Spike thought. 'No Bad thoughts Spike!' he thought to himself.  
  
"Sure Buffy, I have an extra room" Willow said gesturing to the room.  
  
"Oh thank you so much!" Buffy said. "Now I just got to figure out how to get all my stuff without him noticing"  
  
"That might be a problem" Oz said as he opened the fridge. "You know considering he lives there and all"  
  
"Well does he have a job?" Anya asked.  
  
"Yea he's an umm, publicist" Buffy said as she picked up the remains of her cell phone.  
  
"So we just call movers and tell them to get your stuff while he's at work.Oh, Oh It will be like Secret Ops!" Willow exclaimed.  
  
"Willow" Spike said "You are a nerd"  
  
She rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at him. He caught and raised his eyebrows.  
  
"So speaking of" Spike said as he lounged in a chair next to Buffy "Do you have a job?"  
  
"Well.No" Buffy said and looked down "I did, but Angel and I, Well.We were going to move away so I quit my job"  
  
"Could you get it back?" Oz asked.  
  
"I don't think so, I kinda made a scene on my last day" Buffy said sheepishly.  
  
Spike raised his eyebrow at her and she gave him a little half-smile.  
  
"Alright so right now you're No-Job-Buffy...But that's ok!" Willow quickly said as she saw her returned friend's face crumble.  
  
"You don't have to worry about that right now" Willow said as she patted Buffy shoulders. Buffy nodded and she shook a little as if about to cry again.  
  
But instead she raised her head and smiled at Willow, "Thank you" she said quietly.  
  
"Your Welcome" the redhead said as she squeezed the blonde's shoulder. 


	2. TOW Everything Starts Part 2

**Title- Life At The Espresso Pump  
  
  
**

**Author- Kirstee  
  
  
**

**Disclaimer- Not mine Joss Whedon and FOX own all Buffy names, characters and other such. The theme of this story is loosely based on Bright/ Kauffman/Crane's Friends.  
  
  
**

**Description- AU. Loosely based on the TV show Friends. Six friends deal with life and what it deals them.  
  
  
**

**Dedicated- To all my friends over at the Spuffy thread on Fanforum. You guys rock my socks!**

                                               **TOW Everything Starts- Part II**

Buffy lay on the extra bed in Willow's spare room. 

She had gone to bed before everyone had left, crying all day made you incredibly tired.

But yet now she couldn't fall asleep. Seeing Angel and Faith together had destroyed everything for her. 

She had found them…asleep in each others arms. Much the way Angel had held her. 

Buffy sat up in bed. She looked over at the clock…2 AM. 

Most likely everyone had left the apartment. She got out of the bed and tried to smooth her oversized shirt and crumpled shorts Willow had lent her. 

She tentatively opened the door, the living room was dark and she prayed that she wouldn't trip over anything as she silently crept out of the room.

The hardwood floor creaked under her and she winced as she took another step. 

She reached the fridge with thankfully no accidents. She opened the door and the yellow light spilled across her. She rummaged through it, looking for some milk. She had once heard that warm milk could help you fall asleep quicker.

"Of course NyQuil would do the trick also…" she muttered to herself as she moved a plate full of something out of the way. 

She finally found the milk in the back wedged between a soda and what looked like a half eaten hamsteak. 

She closed the fridge and turned around towards the counter. 

"Hello, luv" a voice said from behind

"AH!" Buffy screamed out and dropped the carton of milk. She looked over to where the voice had come from.

There in the dark she could see the faint outline of a person sitting on the couch.

"S-Spike?" she asked to the darkness.

"Yea" he said. 

Then Willow's voice wafted out from her room

"Buffy, Are you okay?!" The door opened and Willow flicked the light switch on. 

Buffy squinted her eyes as bright light filled her vision. She then opened her eyes to see where everything was. 

Willow was standing outside her room, a violet bathrobe pulled around her. 

Spike was still sitting on the couch smirking at her, his bleached hair all curly. 

She then felt something cool around her feet. The milk had spilled onto Willow's nice hardwood floor. 

"Damn…Willow I'm so sorry!" Buffy said as she grabbed a roll of paper towels. 

"Buffy, don't worry about it" Willow said as she came over to Buffy's side. But not before giving Spike a hard smack in the back of the head. The smirk immediately left his face and he rubbed where Willow had hit him. 

He stood up and meekly followed Willow into the kitchen.   
  


"What the hell happened?!" Willow asked, mainly to Spike because Buffy looked like she was going to have a breakdown any second

"I don't know" Spike said. He received death glares from both Buffy and Willow

"Alright, God don't have an estrogen fit on me" Spike sighed "I must have fallen asleep here, I heard the floor creak and could tell it was Buffy, so I just said hello" 

"Yea in a creepy voice, in complete darkness!" Buffy said on her own behalf.

"Scared ya, did I luv?" Spike asked his eyes looking intently at her. 

"Not even! I was just…surprised" Buffy said. 

Spike raised an eyebrow at her.

"Don't do that" she said. 

"Do what?" he asked innocently.

"Be snarky" she said.  

Willow looked at the two of them and remembered these bickerings from back in high school.

"Déjà vu" she muttered under her breath. 

"What?" Buffy asked as she threw another milk soaked paper towel into the trashcan. 

"Nothing" Willow said. 

They finished cleaning and Spike headed back to his own apartment

"Isn't it a little late to be traveling the streets?" Buffy asked after Spike had shut the door behind him. 

"Well Yes, but since Spike only lives across the hall then I doubt that he'll have to be that brave" Willow said with a smile. 

"He lives across the hall?" Buffy inquired while she leaned against the counter. 

Willow nodded "With Xander" 

Willow tried to stifle a yawn but it came out anyway. 

"Oh Will I'm so sorry! You need sleep" Buffy said. 

"No, no I'm really fine" she said but another yawn told a different story. 

"Look it's almost 2:30 your tired and I'm getting a little sleepy myself so why don't we head to the rooms with the beds and then we can talk tomorrow morning when were not about to fall over from being so soporific" Buffy said.

"Soporific?" Willow asked, imitating her brothers eyebrow raise. 

"Hey I know big words! I'm not just your average blonde" she said as she headed to her room

Willow let out a little laugh.

"Night Buffy" she said.

"Goodnight Willow" Buffy said before closing the door. 

The Next Morning-

Buffy stretched and yawned as she raised from her bed. 

He gaze fell on the digital clock on the nightstand. The clock blinked 7:30 back at her. 

"Crap I'm going to be late for work!" she said to herself as she jumped out of bed. 

Her feet hit plush carpet. Wait she didn't have carpet in her bedroom…

She finally opened her eyes wide enough to look around the room. Pale pink walls, a bed with a large white comforter, and a large French poster that hung above the bed. 

Then it all came flooding back to her. Angel, Faith, her old friends, the city, her new friends, Willow…

She mentally scolded herself for getting herself so worked up. 

She heard a voice outside. So she threw on a plaid robe Willow had also lent her and opened the door. 

Xander, Oz and Spike sat at Willow's kitchen table and Willow was at the counter chopping up something. 

As the heard the door open the four looked over to her. 

Buffy suddenly felt self-conscious. 'I must look like hell' she thought to herself. 

She knew her hair must be stuck up at all ends and no doubt she had bags under eyes. 

"Morning Sunshine" Xander said as he smiled at her. 

"Hey" she said weakly and walked slowly over to the kitchen.

Willow handed her a cup of coffee and she took a sip, it tasted like someone had taken some lake water and just added a little bitter to it. 

"Blech!" she said as she spit the coffee back into the mug. 

Everyone turned to look at her again, for the second time that morning. 

"Whats wrong?" Willow asked. 

"Um nothing, just…uh…hot" she said. 

"Sorry" Willow said

"So, um…who made this coffee?" she asked, trying her best to sound innocent.

"Me" Xander spoke up "Why?"

"Oh no reason, just wanted to know who was the…uh…Coffee Guy around here..."

'Lame' Buffy thought to herself. 

Xander smiled up at her "I'll take that as a compliment" he said her before returning to his conversation with Oz. 

Buffy saw Spike looking up at her from the corner or her eye.

"What?"

"I don't think that was a compliment" he said with a slight amusing twinkle in his eye. 

Buffy pressed a finger to her lips, in the universal sign that meant Shut-up-or-I-will-beat-your-ass-down. 

Okay so maybe not that universal…

Spike rolled his eyes and poured some cereal into a bowl. 

"Froot Loops? If you don't hurry up you'll be late for you're first day of kindergarten" she said.

"Oo" Xander said "Good one"

"Hey!" Spike protested "Froot Loops happens to be a great source of energy and its good and…it's got this toucan guy" he said showing Toucan Sam hovering over a bowl of cereal on the front of the box. 

Buffy rolled her eyes

Xander spoke up "Me I much prefer the little leprechaun dude, I mean c'mon a leprechaun with lucky charms! You can't get much cooler than that"

Buffy looked up at Willow as the guys said which cereal cartoons were the greatest.

"Does this go on every morning?" she asked.

"You'd be amazed at what they can argue about" Willow said with a smile. 

"Hey does cuckoo for Coca Puffs mean anything to you guys?" Oz said.

Buffy gave a sidelong look at Willow. "You live a crazy life"

No sooner than Buffy had said those words when Anya entered the apartment.

Gone was the bubbly, almost over-enthusiastic, girl she had seen yesterday. Anya slammed the door shut and preceded to a cabinet above the counter. 

She didn't say hi to anyone. She ignored the pointless conversation between Oz, Xander, and Spike. Buffy didn't know whether it was because of her horrible mood or just something in her life that she was now accustom to ignoring. 

"Willow where is your damn alcohol?!" Anya yelled frustrated.

This was enough to end the conversation that the 3 men had been having. They looked at Anya for a good 5 seconds before talking again. 

"Um Anya, now not to sound condescending or anything, but don't you think it's a little early to start drinking?" Willow said timidly. 

"Hello! Ever heard of mimosas?" Anya said. 

"Well…Yea, but Anya why don't you tell me what up before you go spending a long day with Mr.Vodka"

"Fine whatever, but after I tell you you better tell me where you hide 'Mr. Vodka'" she put up sarcastic air quotes around the Vodka part. 

Willow glanced over her shoulder at Buffy who followed behind them. The three sat on the couch. 

"Well it started this morning with Patrick" Anya started 

"Patrick?" Buffy asked. 

"My boyfriend" Anya said matter-of-factly.

"He's going away on business again, and I hate having a relationship with his answering machine, so he said that we will have a 'relationship talk' when he came back from China."

Buffy nodded at Anya. "Relationships suck" she said to the other blonde. 

Anya let out a brief smile before returning to her ranting. "And when I got to my shop there were police cars surrounding it! Someone had tried to break in so I had to spend the next hour and a half giving out statements and other things. Then 2 of my full time employees quit! They said that they 'want to work in a safer environment'" Anya put on a screechy voice while she mimicked the shopgirls. "This is just too horrible, and Willow  really need that alcohol about now!"

"Anya I lied, I don't have any alcohol in the apartment right now" Willow said.

Anya's eyes flashed. 

"But I think I may have a solution to your problem" 

Anya's face turned from an expression of anger to one of curiosity.

"Now from what I remember from back when me and Buffy were bestest buds…" Buffy looked up from her now cold mug of coffee. Willow continued.

"She was a fashion mongrel and since she doesn't have a job at the moment and you are in need of employees then why doesn't Buffy come work for you!" Willow said happily, obviously proud of herself 

Anya's head swung around to look at Buffy.

"Do you need money?"

Buffy nodded.

"Do you know fashion?"

Buffy nodded.

"Will you do whatever I say and never question me and not quit until I fire you?"

Buffy looked over at Willow before answering that one. Willow gave her an encouraging nod. 

So Buffy nodded at Anya. 

"Well then would you like to come work for me at my shop, Quaint?"

Buffy smiled and nodded.

"Great, you start tomorrow to make money for me!" Anya grinned as she looked at Buffy.


End file.
